We are proud to announce our keynote speaker for Sunday night's opening session will be Rabbi Dr. David Novak, a noted Jewish theologian, ethicist and scholar.

This year's keynote speech topic is...

"What is the Sanctity of a Jewish Cemetery?”There will time allowed for questions following the speech.

Rabbi Dr. David Novak Professor of Religion & Philosophy University of Toronto

Rabbi Dr. David Novak is a Jewish theologian, ethicist, and scholar of Jewish philosophy and law. He is an ordained Conservative rabbi and he currently teaches religion and philosophy at the University of Toronto. His areas of interest are Jewish theology, ethics and biomedical ethics, political theory and Jewish-Christian relations.

Since 1997 he has held the J. Richard and Dorothy Shiff Chair of Jewish Studies as Professor of the Study of Religion and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto. He is also a member of the Joint Centre for Bioethics.

In 1992-93 he was a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C. He also lectured at Oxford University, Lancaster University and Drew University, and was a visiting scholar at Princeton University in 2004 and 2006.

He has authored 16 books and more than 200 articles in scholarly journals. His book Covenantal Rights: A Study in Jewish Political Theory (Princeton University Press, 2000) was named best book in constructive religious thought by the American Academy of Religion in 2000. He is a regular contributor to ABC News' Religion and Ethics Portal. He frequently addresses interfaith conferences and contributes to books and journals published by Christian theologians.

Programs & Presenters

Rabbi Elchonon Zohn

Jewish burial practices in changing communities

‘Ask the Rabbi'

"Ask the Regulators" Michael D’Mello (Registrar of Cemeteries in Ontario) and Richard D. Fishman (Director, New York State Department of State Division of Cemeteries)

Everything you always wanted to know about cemetery insurance, but were afraid to ask! GregStrahl, CIP, Palladium Insurance

Digitize your Cemetery Cansel will discuss and exhibit GPS technology and how it can help cemeteries and the public with way finding and genealogy

Pape Cemetery / Sense of Spadina Tour / Kensington Market

Ask the Rabbi and the Regulators

Social & Educational Activities

Pre-Dinner Reception and Banquet - Sunday Night at the hotel

Tour of Pape Cemetery, Toronto oldest cemetery and one of Jewish Toronto’s first institutions. Established in 1849, it is the final resting place of some of the most prominent Jews in Toronto of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The tour will highlight burial customs, as well as the imagery and iconography of the gravestones. The visitor will have the opportunity to learn about early Jewish Toronto from visiting its first cemetery.

Tour Spadina Avenue and Kesington Market – Tour the old Jewish neighbourhood of Kensington Market in Downtown Toronto. The market was once called the “Jewish Market”. Approximately 60,000 Jews lived in and around the market in the early 1920’s and 1930’s. There were over thirty synagogues in the area.

Tour and Dinner at the Kiever Synagogue followed by a showing of an award-winning documentary on Jewish cemeteries in Downtown Toronto.